Dead Zone (Story)
Sebastian Stagner ran. AT-6 had all but been decimated, only its leader and the scout from before remaining. The past few minutes - oh, how they felt like hours - had been just a blur of red, of gunfire and sand. What happened to the other members of his team, he didn't know, and tried not to thnk about it. In his hands was the pistol that saved his life. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened, he thought. Sarcos guns hardly jammed, which was why he chose that particular sidearm in the first place. "Heads up!" shouted Lt. Garrand, bringing up his rifle and turning the head of an charging zombie into red mist. Sebastian shook his head, trying to focus on the task at hand. He had always been easily distracted, a trait which delayed his promotion to Senior Agent for a few years. A blur knocked him into the sand, ragged fingernails and blackened teeth tearing at him. He managed to wrench his pistol upwards and send a bullet into the zombie's head, blowing half the face off - how did he let one get so close? For heaven's sake, he was in a desert. There was a period of sustained gunfire. The scout gave a shout, and out of the corner of his eye Sebastian saw Lt. Garrand fall under a triplet of zombies, lashing out to try and knock them off but to no avail. He raised his pistol, ready to shoot, but wasn't sure if he would hit the lieutenant. Instead, he ran up, and brought the pistol down on a zombie's head. The thing stumbled back, shaking its head, and then lunged at him, arms outstretched. Sebastian, however, was much faster and put a round in its head. The scout, meanwhile, had managed to decapitate the other two zombies and was kneeling next to the lieutenant. To Sebastian's horror, there was a red mess where the soldier's throat used to be. He ran over and got down. "I need the return code." Without it, there was no way back, beacon or no. Speaking of the beacon, he could only hope that he made it back there later. The lieutenant opened hismouth to speak, but only a cough, accompanied a spurt of blood, then he was gone. The scout closed the lieutenant's eyelids, sighing. An angry shout later, and a zombie corpse went tumbling off the dune they were situated on. The scout put his head in his hands, and sat down. Silence. The sound nearly made Sebastian fall over. He raised his gun, and turned in the direction of it. Something Sebastian could only describe as a "dune buggy" launched itself over the sand, its engine roaring. Several zombies ran towards it, trying to get at the occupants, but the .50 cal machine gun on top came to life, shredding the undead in a terrible rhythm of destruction. It turned suddenly, drifting over the ground and came to a stop about a metre from the two Confederate agents. The driver pulled down his - no, her - goggles and smiled at them. "Get on!"